KitKat Caramel

I still say it's a shame that the KitKats made for our Japanese friends come in so many different flavors, and yet the KitKats made for the U.S. are so boring. We don't get special edition flavors. OK, sometimes the portions are different or they will have seasonal imprints on them, but that's about it. I am sure the root cause boils down to the manufacturer. KitKits for the U.S. are made by Hershey, whereas the rest of the world's supply is made by Nestlé. Whatever the reason, Hershey isn't big on special editions (with the exception of the Kisses line, which does have frequent variants)

This KitKat Caramel bar has actually been out for several years. I have just never gotten around to trying one. The bar is in the same format as the KitKat Extra Crispy bar -- rather than being four fingers with a few layers of wafers, this bar is one solid finger about the length of an average candy bar and has several more layers. The Extra Crispy bar is my favorite U.S. version. The flavor is the same, but the texture is really dense and gives you the sense that you are actually sinking your teeth into something.



The KitKat Caramel has a puddle of caramel that lies on a slab of chocolate above the wafers. Because they have made room for the caramel, this bar has a slightly smaller wafer layer than the normal Extra Crispy bar.

The chocolate is standard issue Hershey's milk chocolate. A little grainy, a little too sweet, but cool on the tongue.

The wafers are crispy, very sweet. If you have ever had a KitKat (any version) there is just not all that much to say about it.



The caramel: I wasn't expecting world class caramel, and I didn't get it. The overwhelming flavor of this caramel is salt. Normally I would call that a good thing, but in this case it was just a little too much. There is also a buttery thing going on. I didn't like that either. It wasn't like I was eating real caramel, but something that was flavored to taste like caramel. The texture was pretty liquid -- that part I liked.

If I must eat domestic KitKats, I am going to stick to the Extra Crispy Bar.

Be sure to check out Cybele's review here. She liked the bar more than I did.



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

Kit Kat: Wasabi (Limited Edition)

As soon as J-List started tweeting that they had wasabi flavored Kit Kats, I had to buy some.



Wasabi is that lump of green stuff that is served next to sushi. It's a type of horseradish that is finely ground and mixed into a paste. It is also extremely hot...to most people, anyway. Personally, I can eat wads of it plain.

While most Americans tend to think of it only as a garnish for sushi, I am one of those odd people who think it's good on everything. Seriously. I have used it on sandwiches of all types, I've smeared it on pepperoni pizza. I have made compound butter with it. One of my signature dishes is a grilled (or broiled) wasabi-crusted salmon.

So a wasabi candy? Hell, yeah!

Here in the U.S., Kit Kat (made in this country by Hershey) doesn't give us many flavor options. However, our East Asian friends get their Kit Kats (made by Nestlé, as are the rest of the world's) in a rather amazing array of flavors. Yes, the Kit Kat universe in Asia is indeed vast compared to ours. In the case of Japanese Kit Kats, some of the flavors are so specialized that they are only available in certain areas of the country. (For example, this flavor was from Shizuoka.) I wish the U.S. would do more limited edition flavors on products in general. I think it would be really interesting to have regional editions of things here...but, onward...



The box that I got contained twelve individually wrapped packets, each containing two mini Kit Kat fingers. The chocolate is a white chocolate that has been flavored with wasabi. The color of the finger is a light boogerish green. When you sniff the bars, all you really get is the sweet sugary smell of the white chocolate. If there is something hot and spicy hiding in there, it is kind of an olfactory ninja.



Biting into the bar does toss a little throwing star of flavor at you. There is no mistaking that there is wasabi in the bar. Not only is it in the white chocolate, but wasabi also flavors the thin layers of creme sandwiched between the wafers. But rather than being strong and potent, or even a little hot, it tastes like you took the teeny-tiniest little bit of wasabi possible and immediately chugged a glass of milk with it to cover the flavor. The essence of the wasabi is present -- there's no mistaking the flavor -- but what you really taste is the strong milky, sweetness of the chocolate. I didn't get the slightest hint of the heat that I love.



Still, even without the heat, I loved the flavor. It was a different way to have something I am already crazy about. I am glad that Nestlé went with white chocolate (even though I am not a fan as a rule) rather than a dark or a milk. The white chocolate kept its sweetness but allowed the wasabi flavor to come through. I think a darker chocolate might have overwhelmed it. I blew through several of these little packs in a really short time.

Check out Jen's review here from her site Jen Ken's Kit Kat Blog. Jen found the bars to be much hotter then I did. Jen's review is also mentioned on The Impulsive Buy Podcast #10.



PURCHASED FROM:
J-List

Azuki Bean Kit Kat

I admit it. Prior to this Kit Kat (minus the odd red bean paste filled Moon cake) I had never really eaten azuki bean.



And beyond that, the only reason they ever stuck in my mind was because Gillian McKeith is always going on about them on the BBC show "You Are What You Eat." Of course, she also goes on and on and on about poo, so maybe she's not the best person to listen to...

Anyway, as some of you may not know (and as a reminder for those who do), in Japan Kit Kat produces tons of different flavors. Much like Pocky, some of them are seasonal or regional, and the sheer number of flavors seems endless.

The Azuki come in a cute little box protecting its payload of 4 fingers, separated into two packets each containing two fingers. The fingers themselves are the same size as their U.S. cousins.

The first clue that these are not like our Kit Kats is the smell. There's sort of an earthy, grassy smell that wafts out of the packet. It's clean and pleasant in a Demeter Fragrance Dirt sort of way-- but it's definitely not something you'd expect from a Kit Kat.



The flavor is unique. It didn't really remind me of the red bean paste I've had before. If you have ever had boiled peanuts, there is a touch of that taste--which is to say, nuts that have more of a soy bean/raw green bean essence. There is also a grasslike taste.



The chocolate is milk, and it seems a little thinner then our version. It's very milky and while it's sweet, it reminds me more of the imported Nestle chocolate than the U.S. version.

Once I got used to the flavor, I really loved this Kit Kat. It's just such a different flavor than what I am used to that I found it addicting. Once J-List starts shipping chocolate again--or I make it back to New York City--I am doing some serious stocking up on this flavor!



PURCHASED FROM:
Kam Man Market NYC

I purchased mine from Kam Man in New York City...but my friends at J-List also carry it, so be sure to check them out!

Kit Kat Mixed Berry

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Blueberry Cheesecake Kit Kat Bar- Limited Edition Japan Only

One of the things I love the most about Japanese products in general is that they love to try all sorts of new flavors on favorite products.
One of those products has become Kit Kat bars. Much like Pokey there are dozens of flavors (granted most are limited edition) at any given time. I wish we did more of that here. This is actually the first of the Japanese Kit Kat's I have had the opportunity to try and I would like to give a shout out to my friends at Jlist.Com for sending me out a sample to try.

The Blueberry Cheesecake Kit Kat is a cheesecake flavored chocolate with blueberry cream cheese spread between the layers.

The chocolate it's self looks like white chocolate (and since the label is entirely in Japanese I am going to assume that it is) The bar it's self smells like berry flavored cereal. There is a oaty, cereal quality to it. Trying to isolate the chocolate was difficult. About all I can tell you is that it is very sweet and does have a tangy cheesecake like flavor to it.

Although you can't see any tell-tale signs of blueberry once you bite into the finger there is no question that they are there. If you have ever had the blueberry pancake syrup at Ihop you know exactly what the filling tastes like. It's very, very sweet and there is no tartness to it- near the end you start to think it should be sour but in reality it just seems slightly less sweet.

Maybe I am just way to fond of Ihop syrup but I really liked these. Because they were so sweet I couldn't eat more then a couple fingers at a time but I really wish they would bring these to the states- until then at least there is Jlist!


PURCHASED FROM:
Provided by Jlist.com